Singapore Campus

Everyone agrees — the Singapore campus totally rocks.

First, it was the former palace of the Nizam of Hyderabad (which explains why the address is 10 Hyderabad Road). How cool is that? It’s set on seven acres of gardens, right next to Hort Park, so it’s lush, gorgeous and super safe. Remember that Singapore is right on the equator, so the natural habitat is jungly. Sometimes you even see monkeys on campus!

Hostel (dormitory) — in a modern six-story building right next to the former palace. On the first floor are faculty offices and a cafe that serves some of the best waffles you’ll ever eat. On the second and third floors are classrooms. Floors four through six have hostel rooms (male and female students on separate floors; sorry, dudes). That means that you get up in the morning, hopefully brush your teeth, jump in the elevator (lift) and walk into class.

Food — There’s a cafeteria right on campus, about a 20 second walk from the hostel and classrooms. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with mostly Indian cuisine (both veg and non-veg), although they usually have an “international” (Western / Chinese) offering as well. Meals cost about S$4. Of course, it’s easy to go off campus too (see the “shopping” section below). Often, students go out after a late night of study

ing to grab a burger at McD’s. Due to Singapore fire regulations, students cannot cook on campus, although there are microwaves, toasters and refrigerators on each floor.

Food, cont. — Let’s not forget to mention that Singapore is Foodies’ Paradise. OMG. Literally anything you want to eat is available (for a price, of course). Indian. Mexican. Italian. World-class Chinese. Local Singaporean street food. I mean, people travel from all over the globe just to eat in this city. There are amazing little local food courts tucked away practically everywhere you look. Beware: you’ll quickly become hooked on Singaporean noodles.

Bus — right outside the campus gates. It’s one short bus stop away in either direction from small but good shopping malls with lots of fast food (see “shopping”).

Shopping — Take the bus or just walk for five minutes in either direction from the school, and you’ll reach a mall with McDonalds, Subway, KFC, pizza, grocery store, drug store (pharmacy), doctor, dentist, hairdresser, nail salon, barber, shoe and clothing stores, etc. For more serious shopping, VivoCity, Singapore’s biggest shopping mall, is about 15 minutes away by bus. World-famous Orchard Road, the shopaholic’s delight, is nearby too, as is Chinatown.

Subway — (they call it the MRT in Singapore) reached easily by bus, or you can walk 10 minutes down to the new Labrador Station. You can get literally everywhere in Singapore by bus and MRT, very economically.

Curfew in Hostel — Nope. You’re an adult now. We trust you to behave. (However, if you act stupidly, you’re likely to get called into the Dean’s office for a stern warning.)